Some more current reading

An article I've been wanting to see for a while, because it cuts to the chase about Iraq: will the new Iraqi security forces actually cut the mustard? It looks like they will, though it's a dirty war. 'Among the just, be just, among the filthy, filthy too...' The biggest danger is that they might get too successful, and their leaders might develop political ambitions: still, they need to be given a chance. One fascinating quote:

"Captain Bennett was on his second tour in Iraq... he was among the Third Infantry Division troops who captured Baghdad airport against stiff resistance from Republican Guard forces. Bennett wears his division patch on the shoulder of his uniform, and soon after he arrived in Samarra, the patch was recognized by a few of the Iraqi commandos, who informed him that they had been in the Republican Guard unit at the airport that fought his unit. Initially, Bennett was leery about going into combat with men he had tried to kill, and who had tried to kill him, but after their first battle together, fighting shoulder to shoulder against insurgents, his doubts disappeared."

In the light of all this, I can only endorse this poster from Anthony. There's a few more ticks still to make, and that's a subject I'll be returning to, but three isn't bad going. It's three more than most PMs manage.